A Canadian court has found the father of 149 children and the husband of 24 women guilty of polygamy

61-year-old Winston Blackmoor, a well-known polygamist in Canada, was found guilty by a Canadian court of possessing 24 wives and sentenced to six months of house arrest. The man is married to 24 women and is the father of 149 children. Moreover, nine of Blackmoore's wives barely reached the age of 18, and four were only 15 when he married them.

Blackmoore is a Mormon and was a former bishop of the schismatic Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter—day Saints. When the judge read the verdict, numerous relatives and supporters of the polygamist began to cry. Blackmoore himself stated: "I am guilty of living according to my religion, and that is all I will say today. I will never change my faith."

Source: huffingtonpost

In addition to the 61-year-old Mormon, his son-in-law, 53-year-old James Ohler, who is married to five women, was also tried. Oler was found guilty of polygamy and sentenced to three months of house arrest.

According to court documents, Blackmoore married 24 women between 1990 and 2014. Under Canadian law, the maximum penalty for polygamy is five years in prison. Previously, Blackmoore pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer claimed that the law violated the religious rights of members of the Bountiful society, a settlement that was founded in 1946 and where fifteen hundred supporters of polygamy live.

Blackmoore's supporters were waiting outside the courtroom with placards

Judge Cheri Ann Donegan said it was difficult to choose a fair punishment for the two defendants in this case, since they were both hardworking and law-abiding citizens. However, the court could not just let them go, because the crime was committed and Blackmoore made it clear that he did not repent. "He declared that no sentences would deter him from faith and religion."

In the judicial practice of Canada, there were only two cases of polygamy charges — in 1899 and 1906.

The prosecutor's office has been looking at the numerous Blackmoor family for a long time — for the last 20 years they have been trying to bring the man to court. However, the law on violation of the rights to freedom of religion interfered. And in 2011, the court still ruled that the consequences of polygamy provide sufficient grounds to restrict these freedoms. In 2014, Blackmoore and Oler were brought to court.